Busch Champ Beginning A New Career

Confident Donald Expects More Wins

July 19, 1989|By CHARLIE DENN Staff Writer

JAMES CITY (County) — The Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic has been the vehicle by which others before Mike Donald have accelerated their careers. Witness what victory here has done for Mark Wiebe, Mark McCumber and Tom Sieckmann.

Wiebe and Sieckmann had never won before on the pro tour. Now they are established competitors. McCumber had won before, but he was slumping so badly he contemplated giving up the tour to devote full time to his golf course construction business. He, too, has been rejuvenated since his A-B victory.

Such is the style of champions. And so it might be for 1989 A-B champ Donald as well. One career is over and another is just beginning.

"I hope this is the start of my new career," said Donald shortly after sinking a birdie putt on the 16th hole Monday morning to defeat Tim Simpson in a sudden-death playoff. "This is a stepping stone and I think it will lead to more success. It's done a lot for other guys.

"What does it mean? It means I'm established now. And it means people will know who I am a little bit more."

Just as it did for Wiebe and Sieckmann before him, winning the Anheuser-Busch tournament gains Donald admittance into some very exclusive tournaments: The Masters, the World Series of Golf, the Tournament of Champions.

It also means a two-year exemption from qualifying. For the next two years Donald does not have to be concerned with beating the magic number (125) on the prize money list.

But more than anything else, victory Monday meant peace of mind for Mike Donald. No longer does he have to wonder if he can win.

"You look at a guy like Paul Azinger," said Donald. "He was on the tour four or five years before he won (Phoenix, 1987). Now he's winning a lot."

The implication is clear. Confidence is the key. Success breeds more success.

Donald believes in the power of confidence, in this, his 10th year on the tour.

"My career was never so bad that I considered quitting," he said. "My career hasn't been horrible. It hasn't been painful. I've made a good living out here."

But nothing can replace the feel of that first tour victory.

"You can't let the fear of the unknown get you down," said Donald. "I've been close to winning before but something always happened. That's why this was so big.

"In golf you never know. In tennis when two guys play the better player almost always wins. That's not true in golf. It's who makes the shots at the right time."

Donald had been close to victory enough times to know how true that is.

In 1987 in a tournament at Memphis, Donald had an eight-foot putt on the last hole to break a three-way tie and take the lead for good. He missed and Curtis Strange birdied the hole to win.

Earlier this year Donald tied with Jim Booros after 72 holes at the Deposit-Guaranty in Hattiesburg, Miss., but he lost in a playoff.

Yet that pressure paled in comparison to what Donald experienced at the conclusion of the 1988 season. With three weeks to go, he stood 135th on the money list.

"I was playing awful," said Donald. "I had missed about eight cuts in a row, by a lot. I didn't get much sleep for about three months."

To earn automatic exemption for the upcoming year, a player must rank in the top 125 money winners. Otherwise, a player loses his playing card and is forced to re-qualify at the PGA tour school.

"I just knew I was going back to school," said Donald of those dark days in late October.

"I played a lot last year trying to make a big check. The only way to make money is to have your bait in the water."

At the Walt Disney World-Oldsmobile Classic, Donald shot rounds of 68-67-70 over the first 54 holes. But he was well back in the field and figured to make no more than a couple of thousand dollars when he played the first eight holes of the Sunday round in one-over.

Then Donald caught fire.

He birdied No. 9, birdied 10 and birdied 11. He made five straight birdies and had eight birdies over his last 10 holes. He finished with a 65, good for a tie for fifth place and a payoff of $25,550.

"That saved my card,' said Donald. "To be honest, I kept waiting for the bubble to burst that day and it just never did. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced.

"There was no way Bob Lohr (the tournament winner) was any happier than I was."

So Donald's place on the 1989 tour was secure. And so was his date with destiny at the 1989 A-B.